About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherOxford University Press, Incorporated

ISBN-100195169522

ISBN-139780195169522

eBay Product ID (ePID)6048811

Product Key Features

Book TitleGangsters, Swindlers, Killers, and Thieves : the Lives and Crimes of Fifty American Villains

Number of Pages304 Pages

LanguageEnglish

Publication Year2004

TopicReference, General, Criminals & Outlaws, Criminology

IllustratorYes

GenreTrue Crime, Social Science, Biography & Autobiography

AuthorWilliam R. Shea, Mariano Artigas

FormatHardcover

Dimensions

Item Height1.1 in

Item Weight17.1 Oz

Item Length5.5 in

Item Width8.5 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade

LCCN2003-021073

Reviews"This engaging anthology from the American National Biography reference series chronicles Americas obsession with the outlaw and documents the rise and fall of more than 50 of the country's most infamous rogues....The short, elegantly written biographies, highlighted by colorful commentary from crime novelist Block, stick mainly to the facts, but include assessments of their subjects status in popular consciousness....The result is an instructive and entertaining browse for students of true crime and cultural mythmaking alike."-- Publishers Weekly, "This engaging anthology from the American National Biography reference series chronicles Americas obsession with the outlaw and documents the rise and fall of more than 50 of the country's most infamous rogues....The short, elegantly written biographies, highlighted by colorful commentary from crime novelist Block, stick mainly to the facts, but include assessments of their subjects status in popular consciousness....The result is an instructive andentertaining browse for students of true crime and cultural mythmaking alike."--Publishers Weekly"This engaging anthology from the American National Biography reference series chronicles America's obsession with the outlaw and documents the rise and fall of more than 50 of the country's most infamous rogues....The short, elegantly written biographies, highlighted by colorful commentary from crime novelist Block, stick mainly to the facts, but include assessments of their subjects status in popular consciousness....The result is an instructive andentertaining browse for students of true crime and cultural mythmaking alike."--Publishers Weekly, "This engaging anthology from the American National Biography referenceseries chronicles Americas obsession with the outlaw and documents the rise andfall of more than 50 of the countrys most infamous rogues....The short,elegantly written biographies, highlighted by colorful commentary from crimenovelist Block, stick mainly to the facts, but include assessments of theirsubjects status in popular consciousness....The result is an instructive andentertaining browse for students of true crime and cultural mythmakingalike."--Publishers Weekly, "This engaging anthology from the American National Biography reference series chronicles Americas obsession with the outlaw and documents the rise and fall of more than 50 of the country's most infamous rogues....The short, elegantly written biographies, highlighted by colorful commentary from crime novelist Block, stick mainly to the facts, but include assessments of their subjects status in popular consciousness....The result is an instructive and entertaining browse for students of true crime and cultural mythmaking alike."--Publishers Weekly, "If anyone knows a bad guy, it should be Lawrence Block. The author ofmore than 50 novels about thieves and murderers, he has expertly compiled afascinating book that takes a look into the lives of some really sleazy types."Edmonton Journal, "If anyone knows a bad guy, it should be Lawrence Block. The author of more than 50 novels about thieves and murderers, he has expertly compiled a fascinating book that takes a look into the lives of some really sleazy types." Edmonton Journal, "This engaging anthology from the American National Biography reference series chronicles America's obsession with the outlaw and documents the rise and fall of more than 50 of the country's most infamous rogues....The short, elegantly written biographies, highlighted by colorful commentaryfrom crime novelist Block, stick mainly to the facts, but include assessments of their subjects status in popular consciousness....The result is an instructive and entertaining browse for students of true crime and cultural mythmaking alike."--Publishers Weekly

SynopsisFifty biographical profiles of American villains -- from the colorful to the unsettling -- selected from the American National Biography and introduced by popular crime novelist Lawrence Block., Drawing on his experience in creating fictional bad guys, crime novelist Lawrence Block surveys the underside of American history through fifty of its most infamous characters. Some, like Jesse James, Bonnie Parker, and Joe Colombo, led a life of crime; others, like John Wilkes Booth and John White Webster, committed one notorious act. Some, like Pretty Boy Floyd or the elusive thief Railroad Bill, have become folk heroes, whether or not the real details of their lives matched the myths they inspired. Others, like Ed Gein and Ted Bundy, will be forever reviled. Block introduces each biography with a writer's eye for character and a good story. He begins the book with a short essay that considers how Americans have defined and regarded villains through history. The biographies, culled from the pages of the American National Biography and illustrated with archival photographs, describe each villain's background, exploits, and eventual fate--often with unexpected details. The convicted killer Nathan Leopold, for example, became the administrator of a leprosy hospital after his parole. The gangster Dutch Schultz was known not only for his bootlegging expertise but also for his cheap, ill-fitting clothes. The stagecoach bandit Black Bart fancied himself a poet (or, as he put it, "PO8"). And when outlaw Bill Doolin finally met his end, only a rusting buggy axle marked his grave. Ideal for readers of true crime, crime fiction, and history, Gangsters, Swindlers, Killers, and Thieves brings a fresh perspective to American's fascination with crime and its perpetrators.

LC Classification NumberHV6785.G36 2004